Method of incorporating extremely viscous lubricants in rope material



Jag. 21, 1936. w. D. HODSON METHOD OF INCORPORATING EXTREMELY VISGOUS LUBRICANTS IN ROPE MATERIAL Filed Nov. 2, 1934 5 Sheets-Sheet l Jan. 21, 1936. D H D ON 2,028,158

METHOD OF INCORPORATING EXTREMELY VISCOUS LUBRICANTS IN ROPE MATERIAL Filed Nov. 2, 1934 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Jan. 21, I936. w. D. HO DSON 2,028,158

METHOD OF INCORPORATING'EXTREMELY' VII ISCOUS LUBRICANTS IN ROPE MATERIAL Filed NOV. 2', 193 4 3 Sheets-Sheet-3 52%- h v lg wzaja 21 M7 417 Patented Jan. .21, 1936 UNITED. STATES PATENT OFFICE METHOlD OF INCORPORATING EXTREMELY VISCOUS LUBRICANTS IN ROPE MATE- man.

Walter D. Hodson, Beverly Hills, Ill. Application November 2, 1934,'Serial No. 751,245 2 Claims. (01. 1 7-2) This invention relates to an improved method of and apparatus for incorporating extremely viscous lubricants in rope material.

In my co-pendingapplications Nos. 636,094

'5 filed October a, 1932, 637,007 filed October 1o,

1932, and 744,426 filed September 1'7, 193e, are disclosed lubricants for wire ropes and rope materialsin general. Many of these lubricants are of an extremely heavy nature and they are all viscous, tenacious, fibre-containing, adhesive lubricants: The incorporation of lubricants of this class into rope material has proved extremely difllcult. Lighter lubricants which will seek their own level by gravity may be readily incorporated by .means of the apparatus disclosed in the 5 which- Fig. 1 is a broken side elevation oi. the lubricating apparatus including the stranding mav chine for stranding wires;

Fig. 2 is a plan view broken away with the right-hand portion of Fig. 1; 1

Fig. 3 is a side elevation broken away of that portion of the device adjacent to the closing die, showing a modified form of scraper; I

. Fig. 4 is a section along the line 4 in Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is similar to Fig. 3, showing a tunnel shaped scraper; a

; Fig. 6 is a section along the line 6 inFig. 5;

. Fig. 7 shows a side elevation similar. to Fig. 3

in which both. an'interior and exterior scraper are used; Fig. 8 is a section along the line 8 .in Fig. '7; Fig. 9 shows a modified form in which the die itseli. is made bell-mouthed to provide an integral scraper; Fig. 10 is a, section along the line It in Fig. 9.

The first ten figures relate to the lubrication of wires prior to their incorporation-into wire rope strands. Figures 11 to -17 represent apparatus for the lubrication of vegetable fibres prior to the formation of the fibres into twine.

Fig. 11 is a broken. side elev 'tionpartly in tion of a conventional twining machine feeding device or nippers and illustrates a method of incorporating the lubricant in such device;

Fig. 12 is a side elevation broken away 01' arrothe form'of apparatus in which no closing die is used;

Fig. 13 is an endview of the same apparatus; Fig. 14 is a broken side elevation partly in section of a twining machine in which the lubricant o is i ntroduced inside of a yieldable funnel;

Fig. 15 is'a sectional view along the line IS in Fig. 14 showing the yieldable portion of the funnel;

which the tunnel or scraper is provided with springs to provide the necessary tension;

Figs. 17 and 18 show apparatus for the stranding of twine.

Fig. 17 is a broken side elevation partly in section showing a closing die with a lubricant nozzle" adapted to eject lubricant within a closedcompartment; a

Fig. 18 is a similar view in which the mouth of a the die. is made funnel shaped to provide the desired scraping action. Y

The general form of operation of the invention is illustrated in Figure 1 in which I is a lubricant tank adapted to withstand a pressure 0? 100 pounds or upwards; 2 is a pipe leading to anair 25 supply; 3 is a valve-controlled vent for the tank; 4 is a lubricant ejector nozzle controlled by valve 5 and connected by pipe '6 to the lubricant supply. The lubricant nozzle is placed directly .over the wires I at a point where they are converging toward the closing die 8. It will be understood that the entire group of wires I is rotating rapidly beneath the ejector nozzle I.

The lubricant is ejected from the tank I by air pressure supplied through the pipe 2 and the lubricant passes out through the nozzle 4 under the wires 1, where it tends to form a'doughnut about the revolving wires. A vertical wiper 9 is provided which forces the lubricantinside of the 40 wires so that the lubricant thoroughly surrounds and coats them. Excess lubricant is forced from the at the mouth or the closing-die Ill and may be caught below the apparatus. The strand ll issuing from the opposite side of the die is 45 thus thoroughly impregnated with the lubricant.

; 'nel 9 provided-with a hole in which the lubricant nozzle is fitted. I

with certainlubricants it is advisable to have an internal wiper as well as an external one, and

Figures '1 and 8 illustrate such a device in which Fig. 16 is a view corresponding to Fig. 14 in 10 I there is an internal funnel-shaped wiper l2 and an external concave wiper 9.

A still further modified device is shown in'Figures 9 and 10 in which the closing die 8 is provided with a funnel-shaped mouth 83 which acts as a wiper. In this instance the area of the funstrands from the yarn.

nel is-so small that the wires and the lubricants themselves act as anint'ernal' wiper and put the whole of the lubricant under great pressure.

In the case of. vegetable fibres, the strands may be made from yarns and strands laid together to form a rope, or the two steps may be carried out on -one machine. In either event the yarns are first formed from the fibres on a spinning machine. It may be desirable to incorporate the lubricant either at the time of the formation of the yarn, or at the time of the formation of the In Figure 11 is shown'a conventional form of spinning die M in which the fibres l5 enter the die when they are removed as yarn l6, undergoing a twisting motion during their passage. In this form of operation it is preferred to lubricate the yarn through the nozzle 4 which is drilled through the die l4 and ejects lubricant into the funnelshaped mouth I! of the die. In this instance the walls of the die act as a wiper.

A modified form of procedure in, connection with' spinning machines is shown in Figures 12 and 13 in which the lubricant is ejected within the body of the fibres l 5 prior totheir entry into a closing ,die'not shown. In case of vegetable fibres the natural curl of the fibres is suflicient to carry the lubricant to the closing die which then acts as a wiper. However, in. some instances it may be desirable to provide a wiper as shown in Figures 14, 15 and 16. In Figure 15 a funnelshaped wiper I8 is provided in which the right-, ,hand portion is made yieldable as shown in Figure 15., by overlap of a metallic portion for example. A similar wiper I9 is causedto press against the fibres l5 by the springs 20, as shown in Figure 16.

Where it is desired to lubricate theyarns, the lubricant may be injected into the twining yarns iust prior to their entry into the, closing die 8 as illustrated in Figure 17. In this instance it is preferred to rwholly inclose the lubricant and yarnswithinawiperzisothattheyarnspass through a substantially continuous body of lubri- I cant under high pressure.

Figure 18 shows a modified form in which the mouth 22 of the closing die is made funnel shaped and thereby maintains a body of lubricant under great pressure therein. 4

In general the lubricant, being applied at a time when the efiective volume of the fibres is becoming rapidly less, is maintainedunder great pressure, and the effect of the wiper is to'maintain a continuous body of lubricant within and about the fibres which is maintained under tremendous pressure through which all of the fibres must pass.

As used herein the term fibres, generically applied, covers not only vegetable fibres but any rope constituent which is to be made into a larger unit. For instance it covers the wires before stranding and the yarns before stranding, and also strands of wires or fibres being built into a rope.

In view of the extremely viscous character of the lubricant, high pressures are preferred in the fibre-containing adhesive lubricant unable to seek its own level by gravity to rope "material, which comprises forcing the lubricant under high fluid pressure ontomoving rope fibres while rapidly drawing the fibres together, and correlating the rate of flow of lubricant and the speedoi the fibres to maintain a continuous body of lubricant under pressure through which the rope fibres are forced to pass.

2. The method as set i'orth in claim 1, in which the rope fibres,are brought together in a confined space, and the lubricant is held therein under high pressure by its adhesion to the moving rope fibres.

. WALTER D. HODSON. 

